One Less Death Equals What?
by little.tel
Summary: After being whisked away to the graveyard, Cedric wasn't killed. Instead Voldemort used him in a ritual to gain power. Cedric's survival changes everything, as does the dark lords error. He really should have used someone elses blood.


**One Less Death Equals…What?**

**Chapter One**

"On three," said Cedric preparing himself. "One…two…three!"

Harry wrapped his hand around the Triwizard Cup at the same moment as Cedric and both boys blinked out of existence as a tug on their navels indicated the activation of a port-key.

As the whirling came to a stop, both boys hit the ground hard and the Triwizard Cup rolled away from them. The two staggered to their feet to see that they had been transported to a graveyard.

Cedric glanced around and was puzzled to see three massive bubbling cauldrons sitting in the clearing.

Recognizing the house on the hill, Harry pulled out his wand and said, "Something's not right."

"What do you mean?" asked Cedric, pulling his own wand out.

"I've been here before," said Harry, "in a dream."

"A dream?" Cedric glanced at Harry but kept his wand out and held at the ready. "What happened in your dream?"

"Voldemort killed some old muggle," said Harry as he inspected the name on one of the gravestones. "Tom Riddle," read Harry aloud. He straightened and backed away from the grave as he realized where they were. "We have to get out of here," said Harry, slightly panicked.

Cedric, seeing Harry's distress, said, "Alright let's get back to the cup."

Before the two could do anything, a strange figure stepped out of one of the crypts. The two boys brought their wands to bear on the figure, but a hissing sound beside them made their heads turn.

Cedric glanced at Harry with confusion written across his face. The younger boy's expression was one of loathing mixed with fear.

Harry growled and turned so his wand was now pointing at the new figure, and Cedric heard him snarl under his breath, "Wormtail."

Peter Pettigrew laughed as he pointed a wand at the two boys.

"Bind the spare." The hissed command froze both boys in place and before either one could recover Pettigrew had fired.

"_Expelliarmus_. _Incarcerous_!" shouted Pettigrew in quick succession. The first spell ripped both boys wands from their hands and the second spell, aimed only at Cedric, wrapped the older boy in ropes so tightly that he fell over.

"Cedric!" cried Harry, but was pushed backwards to Tom Riddle Senior's grave, where, with a flick of Pettigrew's wrist, the statue rearranged itself so that it was restraining him.

Cedric rolled onto his side and tried to wriggle out of the ropes binding him, but they refused to loosen. Giving up for the moment he twisted himself around so that he could keep the man Harry had called 'Wormtail' in his sight. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Harry struggling against the statues hold.

Ignoring the two boys, Pettigrew walked to the center of the graveyard where the largest of the cauldrons was set and dropped the bundle that he had been holding into it. Then, walking to the grave where Harry was bound, he pointed the wand at the ground and, with a flick of it, a bone erupted from the dirt.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son," said Pettigrew as he dropped the bone into the cauldron. Pulling a large knife out of his robes he bared his right arm and in one quick motion cut the entire thing off at the elbow. As the limb dropped into the now smoking potion he chanted, "Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master."

After haphazardly wrapping his bloody stump of an arm, he walked back to Harry with the knife raised. Harry struggled even more, but the statue didn't budge. With a sadistic smile on his face, Pettigrew pushed Harry's sleeve out of the way and made a large cut on his arm.

Harry cried out as the knife cut into his flesh, but was unable to move away from the blade. Cedric winced in sympathy when he saw the size of the cut and the amount of blood flowing from it.

Ignoring Harry's cries, Pettigrew walked back to the cauldron where he flicked the knife so that three drops of blood fell into the mixture as he gleefully chanted, "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe."

The relative peace of the graveyard was shattered as Harry's soft cries escalated into full-blown screams. Cedric, slightly confused, watched helplessly as the younger boy writhed in pain, still bound and unable to escape. His attention was drawn away from the now whimpering boy by the sight of the cauldron bursting into flames and disappearing to reveal a gray blob, which slowly morphed into the shape of a man. He watched as the smoke coalesced around the man and formed into black robes.

The man stepped onto the ground and rubbed his hands over his head with his eyes closed, as if reveling in the feeling of having a body.

"My Lord Voldemort," said Pettigrew as he bowed and held the wand out for the man to take. Cedric's eyes widened as he realized that the Dark Lord was back once again.

"Well done Wormtail," said Voldemort as he took his wand. He glanced at the two boys, but for the most part ignored their presence. Raising his wand slightly he ordered, "Give me your arm Wormtail."

"Oh, thank-you master. Thank-you," said Pettigrew as he held out his bloody stump.

"The other arm Wormtail!" hissed Voldemort and the happy smile on Pettigrew's face was replaced with a fearful frown, but he obeyed and held out his left arm. With a sadistic grin spread across his face, Voldemort pushed Wormtail's sleeve back to reveal his Dark Mark and pressed the tip of his wand to the black tattoo. Wormtail whimpered in pain, but didn't move as the Dark Mark burned and became more pronounced.

Cedric's eyes widened as the cemetery was filled with the loud cracks of apparation. Twenty some figures now stood in a semicircle facing the two remaining cauldrons, Voldemort, and the bound boys.

Voldemort, who had been facing Wormtail with his back to the new arrivals, turned and at the sight of him, every Death Eater fell to their knees. From around the circle murmurs of 'My Lord' could be heard uttered reverently and repeatedly.

With a wave of his hand all of the Death Eaters became silent. "My loyal followers," said Voldemort with a slight sneer in his voice.

As Voldemort began to lay into his Death Eaters, Cedric tuned him out and tried to get free of his bonds again. Finding them just as tight as they were the first time, he gave up again and began to inch his way towards the statue Harry was restrained against.

To Cedric's annoyance he found it took him forever to move just a few inches. Between the fact that he had to keep stopping to make sure he hadn't attracted any unwanted attention and the sheer amount of time it took him to simply **move**, he figured it would take him about half an hour to reach the statue. All in all he knew that what he was doing was essentially pointless, since even if he did reach the statue unnoticed, he had no way of helping Harry in his present state. But Cedric couldn't think of anything else to do that would even be slightly productive, so he continued his slow progress.

He had only managed to move a foot before he heard Voldemort say, "Wormtail grab the spare, we can use him." Cedric found himself being hauled roughly to his feet by what appeared to be a silver arm.

Noticing Cedric's gaze on his new appendage Wormtail gloated, "Like it?"

Cedric kept his mouth shut and didn't respond. Instead he focused on staying upright, a feat that was proving hard to accomplish with his legs so tightly bound. He didn't succeed and wobbled dangerously from side to side despite the silver arm's tight grip on the back of his shirt.

His wobbling didn't go unnoticed and the obviously annoyed voice of Voldemort snapped, "Wormtail, either hold the brat perfectly still or let Nott restrain him. His movements will throw off the ritual."

"Ah, I'm sorry my Lord," spluttered Wormtail quickly. Turning towards Cedric he hissed, "Stand still or you'll regret it."

Having given up on the impossible task of standing upright, Cedric glared at the disgusting man and snapped back, "I can't stand still with my legs bound in such a way. It's physically impossible."

Angry at the talking back Wormtail glared and said, "It is not impossible. Just focus on standing and-"

Cedric actually cut the rest of his sentence off saying, "If it's not impossible then you try it. I'd love to watch you fail horribly."

Wormtail opened his mouth to snap something back but found his voice overrun.

"Nott," said Voldemort sounding even more annoyed, "help Wormtail with the brat. You can remove his bonds." Smirking at the irritated looking Cedric he continued, "He'll only be free for a moment or so. I'm sure you two can hold onto him for that long. And I highly doubt he would leave young Potter behind."

"As you command my Lord," said one of the death eaters as he stepped forward and moved to stand on the opposite side of Cedric. With a slight wave of his wand and a '_finite_', the ropes dissolved and Cedric was able to stand. Wormtail moved his hand so the he was gripping Cedric's right arm and Nott mirrored his actions on the other side.

Apparently satisfied with Cedric's now stabile state, Voldemort turned to the dark crypt entrance where the strange figure still stood. Bowing his head slightly, Voldemort said, "My lovely lady, if you would begin?"

All eyes were immediately trained on the figure as Voldemort's words were processed. He had after all called them lovely, a term no one had ever heard him use before. The person that slowly emerged into the light was indeed a woman, but the death eaters had difficulty calling her 'lovely' in their minds. She had long brown hair tied up in a bun that was halfway undone. The numerous fly-aways framed her face, which could only be called ordinary and her body was of the average build. On the whole she was completely average and slightly unkempt looking. Behind her floated two bound and unconscious bodies.

The woman nodded once to Voldemort and then turned her attention to the two remaining cauldrons. From seemingly nowhere she produced a bag and began throwing what appeared to be the last ingredients into the two bubbling potions. The two floating bodies seemed to travel on their own accord and settled in front of a pair of death eaters as their bindings disappeared.

"Goyle, Crabe," called Voldemort and the two death eaters who the bodies had stopped in front of looked up, "keep an eye on those two."

"Yes my lord," answered the two in tandem as they stepped closer to the bodies and turned them to lie on their backs. They were both middle-aged and had brown hair. One was a woman and the other was a man. They were both breathing shallowly, obviously under a spell of some kind.

Apparently finished with her additions to the potions, the woman nodded to Voldemort once again and knelt down between the two cauldrons with her hands clasped together in front of her.

Waving his wand, two silver daggers appeared in front of Crabe and Goyle. "Take a sample of their blood and place three drops in the cauldron in front of you. Glancing at Cedric he added, "Wormtail do the same with the brat."

"Yes my Lord," intoned the three death eaters.

Producing the knife from earlier from his robes, Wormtail roughly jerked Cedric's arm up and with a grin made a nice long slice from his elbow to his hand. Cedric grunted but refused to give any more indication at the pain he now felt. Actually he was just glad the cut hadn't been on his wrist where he probably would've bled out.

Collecting some of Cedric's blood on the edge of the blade, Wormtail followed Crabe and Goyle's example and flicked three drops into the cauldron closest to him.

As soon as the blood had been added the woman began chanting in an odd language. Her voice started out quiet but it steadily grew in volume till it filled the whole cemetery. The words seemed to flow and meld together till it was simply a rushing sound that seemed to come from everywhere.

Cedric glanced around to see that everyone but Voldemort seemed to be frozen. He felt frozen; the voice had him stuck fast. Out the corner of his eye he could see that Harry had stopped struggling and was merely staring at the woman. Cedric found his own eyes drawn to the cauldron in front of him as the potion inside it grew still and ceased to spew bubbles.

The voice that had been reverberating through the area suddenly died back into a whisper and then disappeared completely. All eyes were drawn to the cauldrons as the potions began to move. The liquids turned an inky black and rose above the edges of the cauldrons and started to form into the shapes of figures. One was male looking while the other was distinctly female. After a few seconds the figures were fully formed and sudden bursts of steam and smoke enveloped the two.

As the smoke cleared, the cauldron in front of Crabe and Goyle was revealed. Inside it stood a lean but well-built and handsome teenaged boy. He had ear-length snow-white hair that seemed to glow in the light except for a sky blue streak that fell behind his right ear. His eyes were an ice blue and his skin was pale. However, almost no one was focused on him. Instead all of the death eaters were focused on the figure that had appeared in the other cauldron. Apparently the same age as the boy, there was a girl standing in the cauldron.

Both Cedric and Harry merely glanced at the girl before quickly closing their eyes and blushing. The girl had dark black hair that seemed to absorb all light except for a red streak that fell behind her left ear. Her eyes were a deep red and her skin was a golden tan. Like the boy she was lean but well built and quite pretty. She was also completely naked, hence why all the death eaters were looking at her and not her counterpart.

Apparently noticing the lack of attention, the boy's eyes glowed for a moment and the cauldron he was standing in exploded. For a second all eyes were on him but just as quickly they all snapped back to the girl.

The boy's explosion had caused shrapnel to fly everywhere and a large chunk had hit the girl's cauldron, knocking it over. Startled out of her examination of her body, the girl fell out on the ground and her sprawled state had the death eaters hungrily staring at her.

"Ow," mumbled the girl as she pushed herself off the ground. A quiet and stifled groan made her head snap up. The many eyes riveted on her naked body were quite obvious to her despite the masks on the majority of the death eaters. Her expression quickly morphed into one of outrage and her eyes glowed red for a second. Suddenly pillars of stone shot up from the ground and hit every death eater with their eyes on her in the groin before sinking back into the earth. As they fell to the pain she stood, her face still a mask of fury.

Feeling the hands holding him disappear, Cedric cracked his eyes open only to snap them shut again at the sight of the girl standing directly in front of him. Not really thinking about it he pulled his shirt off and held it out towards where he'd seen the girl last.

The girl blinked at the shirt that had been thrust in her direction, her anger forgotten. Smiling slightly she took the offered shirt and slipped it on. It was just big enough on her that it went over her butt. Unfortunately it also slid off one shoulder. Not having to worry about prying eyes anymore, the girl poked the now shirtless Cedric, which caused him to open his eyes. His blush diminished significantly now that she was no longer naked. He stood still as the girl began to slowly circle him while poking him in various places.

The death eaters were still groaning to themselves as they began to pick them selves off the ground. The odd woman who had preformed the ritual gave the boy an odd white and blue robe, which he put on.

"Thank you my lady," said Voldemort to the woman with a small inclination of his head.

She nodded back to him and threw the black and red robe she had been holding at the girl who caught it but didn't put it on.

Watching his rising death eaters, Voldemort merely sneered before turning to face Harry. "Azrael, Zerachiel," both the boy and girl looked at him as he continued, "come here. I wish to see you."

The boy moved to stand beside Voldemort, but the girl merely said, "Hello Father."

Voldemort was obviously annoyed by the girl's response, but let it slide. He examined the boy and gave an approving nod. Speaking to both Azrael and Zerachiel he said, "Considering the circumstances I thought you both might want a snack. Please help yourselves to the three I have provided."

"Thank you Father," said the boy softly before he vanished. He reappeared an instant later directly in front of Cedric. Before Cedric could do anything he was lifted off the ground by the boy's hand wrapped around his neck. The boy's eyes started glowing and Cedric felt himself getting weaker, sleepier.

"Stop that Azrael," said the girl as she stepped forward and swatted Azrael's hand away causing Cedric to collapse to the ground where he began coughing. Glaring at her brother she continued, "What makes you think you get to eat him?"

Azrael shrugged, "Fine Zerachiel, you eat him, but I get the other two. They're not as powerful as he is."

"Whatever," said Zerachiel, completely dismissing the other's words. As Azrael moved to the other side of the clearing she knelt down beside the fallen Cedric and placed a hand his shaking shoulder.

Slowly the cold, weak feeling was replaced with a warm and powerful one. Glancing up he saw Zerachiel smile down at him. She ruffled his hair and then helped him stand up.

A terrible moaning sound made them both look towards the opposite side of the circle where Azrael now stood holding both the unconscious man and woman the way he had been holding Cedric moments earlier. As they watched both the man and woman began to grow old and wither, till they were nothing more than curled up husks.

Beside him Cedric heard Zerachiel mutter, "disgusting."

Turning around as he dropped the two corpses, Azrael said, "I don't understand why my way of eating disgusts you." Tilting his head to the side as he stared directly at Zerachiel he added, "Your own way is much more gruesome and painful."

Folding her arms across her chest Zerachiel ignored the comment and said, "Father already knows about your powers, there's no need to show off Azrael."

Voldemort laughed and the sudden sound captured everyone's attention. Still chuckling slightly Voldemort looked at Cedric and commanded, "Zerachiel, finish eating that brat so that we can continue."

Glancing at Cedric, Zerachiel suddenly looked confused before pointing at Cedric and asking, "You mean him?"

Voldemort actually rolled his eyes as he answered, "Yes him. He's just a spare. We have no use in letting him live."

Cedric shrank away from the girl but froze when she yelled, "What!?"

Every eye turned to her, and her Father's were accompanied with a frown.

Glancing from her Father to Cedric and then back again Zerachiel, asked, "Why in the world would I want to eat him? He's the best human I've met so far." Folding her arms across her chest once again she finished, "I am not going to eat him."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at this blatant act of disobedience. "Zerachiel, he must die. If he survives people will learn about my return. That would be detrimental to our cause, so either you eat him or Azrael will."

Her own eyes cold, Zerachiel bit out, "It's not my cause. It's your cause, one that I personally don't want anything to do with. I might've agreed with you 16 years ago, but not anymore. I've grown up quite a bit since my creation. You're cause is just creating pain and suffering. I can't agree to help with something like that."

His face contorted in anger, Voldemort opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Zerachiel continuing, "Father I will not follow you. Not now and not ever again. If you continue to hurt people without reason I will in fact, do everything in my power to destroy you." A movement beside Voldemort made her add, "You as well brother."

Turning towards the woman who had preformed the ritual Voldemort demanded, "What did you do wrong? Why has she had this change of heart?"

"I do not know," said the woman. "She has been by my side the past 16 years and I have never heard or felt these concerns."

Still staring at Zerachiel, Azrael quietly said, "She was always weak like this. It was only a matter of time before it showed."

"This breach in obedience is unforgivable," said Voldemort his fury causing the death eaters to retreat a few steps. "Something must have gone wrong with the ritual." Turning to Azrael he ordered, "Bind her so that we may rectify this mistake immediately."

Bowing slightly Azrael quietly intoned, "Yes Father." He then disappeared followed a second later by a large gust of wind beside Cedric.

Cedric turned to see that Zerachiel had also disappeared. The sounds of fighting could be heard echoing through the cemetery but Azrael and Zerachiel were impossible to spot. Noticing Voldemort and the death eaters' attention on the invisible fighting pair, Cedric stood still and focused on gathering his magic. Having gathered a sufficient amount he softly whispered, "_Accio_ wand." Thanks to Wormtail's lax grip the wand shot easily into Cedric's hand with no one but the fat man's notice. Acting before Wormtail could respond Cedric quickly bit out, "_Stupefy_, _finite_." The first spell knocked Wormtail unconscious and the second one released Harry from the statue's grip.

Harry reacted quickly, his years of quidditch helping as he hit the ground running to where his wand had flown and then diving behind a headstone. Cedric had copied his move and was crouched behind a stone not far from Harry. They were just in time as all the death eaters had noticed Harry's escape and where now shooting curses in their general direction.

Cedric managed to fire off a few _reducto_s and _stupefys_. He actually hit a few of the death eaters and used the lull in spells being fired to dive to where Harry was hiding. Crushed next to the younger boy, Cedric whispered breathlessly, "We need to get to the cup."

"I could accio it while you give me some cover," suggested Harry. "You're better at actually hitting them than I am."

"Thanks," said Cedric wryly.

Before they could put their plan into action the two invisible fighters made their presence known. Azrael was suddenly hurled into a large group of death eaters sending them all sprawling into a tangle of limbs, while Zerachiel suddenly appeared next to Cedric and Harry.

Ducking to avoid being seen she quickly whispered, "Hurry up and get us out of here!"

Not wasting anymore time, Harry accioed the cup and with a tug on their navels the three of them disappeared.

The three landed in a pile at the entrance to the third challenge. The crowds surrounding them broke out into applause before people slowly started to notice the bloodied state of the three, the half dressed state of Cedric, and the unknown half naked girl wearing Cedric's shirt. The three stood carefully and Cedric let the cup fall to the ground. Seeing the large number of people staring at her, Zerachiel quickly hid behind the two boys. Her hands gripped their arms tightly but they didn't comment.

Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore rushed towards the three, breaking the audience out of its stupor. Seeing the approaching people, Zerachiel shrank even farther behind Cedric and Harry.

"Cedric, Harry," Dumbledore's voice was filled with worry, "What happened? Are you two all right? Who is this?"

"Dumbledore!" said Harry hurriedly. "Something terrible happened!"

His frown increasing, Dumbledore asked, "What is it Harry?"

Before Harry could say anything, Cedric interrupted, "Headmaster, it might be better if we tell you in the infirmary where it won't cause a panic."

"Of course that would be better!" exclaimed Madame Pomfrey, making the others aware of her arrival. "These children are obviously injured. To the infirmary this instant. They can tell you what happened while I treat them."

His eyes twinkling again, Dumbledore humbly agreed, "Madame Pomfrey's orders are best to be obeyed. I will help you all to the infirmary."

Beckoning with his hand Professor Dumbledore began to lead them out of the arena. Zerachiel moved to stand in between the two boys. Madame Pomfrey walked behind them, shooing off the multiple reporters that were trying to get to the three teens.

"Dumbledore!" The shouted voice caught everyone's attention and split the crowd enough so that Cedric's father was able to get next to them.

"Amos, please let us treat Cedric's wounds before any congratulations occur. You may see them in the infirmary."

Amos Diggory shook his head and one of his hands latched onto his sons shoulder. "I'm going with you."

Dumbledore looked like he wanted to argue, but the resolute look on the man's face made him acquiesce. "Very well."

They eventually managed to leave the crowds behind and made it to the infirmary peacefully. Madame Pomfrey immediately ushered the two boys to beds and commanded Harry to remove his shirt so that she could see his wound. As he was undressing she shooed Zerachiel to a bed with curtains and, giving her a pair of infirmary clothes, left her to change. A single glare from the healer kept the two men from moving any further into the room towards the patients

"That's a nasty cut there Mr. Diggory," said Madame Pomfrey as she cleaned it and then muttered a spell under her breath. Cedric wrinkled his brow in discomfort as the cut healed itself.

"Any other cuts, scrapes, or bruises that I should know about Mr. Diggory?" At the boy's negative she moved onto where Harry was and repeated the process on him. A moment later she returned to hand each of the boys an infirmary outfit before turning to Dumbledore and the Diggorys. "Albus. Amos. I've healed their wounds, however I would like them to spend the night here for observation. Mr. Diggory is suffering from a minor case of magical exhaustion, nothing serious, and Mr. Potter is in a state of shock, also nothing a nights rest won't heal."

"Ah, and what of the girl who appeared with them?" asked Dumbledore

"The surface scan I gave shows no injuries, but I'll let you know if I find anything in the more intensive one."

Dumbledore gave her a nod of thanks and she quickly disappeared behind the curtains where she'd put Zerachiel. "So," asked Dumbledore as he sat in the chair between the two boys' beds and Amos conjured and sat on a chair on the far side of Cedric's bed. "Tell me what has happened."

"Voldemort's back," blurted Harry without preamble.

"Ah, that is terrible news," said Dumbledore softly as he sighed.

"Ahhhh!" The sudden shout drew the group's attention to the curtained area. A moment later Zerachiel, now wearing pants and a shirt, came running out with Madame Pomfrey just a few steps behind her with her wand in her hand.

"Dear don't run you'll make it worse!" Pomfrey's face and voice were both filled with worry as she attempted to catch the girl. "If you don't let me heal it you're going to bleed to death!"

Reaching the boys' beds, Zerachiel jumped up onto the bottom of Cedric's and then used it as a springboard to launch herself at the wall, making everybody gasp. Latching onto the stone, she quickly proceeded to scale the wall till she was high enough to jump to a rafter. Once sure that no one could get her she shouted back, "I'm perfectly fine! I don't need you to heal me."

The occupants of the room below her were too flabbergasted at what she'd done to reply for a while. The first to regain her voice, Madame Pomfrey yelled, "Dear, you have what appears to be a stab wound running straight through your chest! It probably goes through your lung as well! If you don't receive medical attention you'll die!"

"I'm fine!" She pulled up her shirt to prove her point. There was indeed an easy to see stab wound. However, instead of blood gushing out of it like there should be, the blood that had been spilled was flowing back into the wound, which proceeded to close up on it's own accord. "See, all good!"

"Wha- how?" Madame Pomfrey was completely lost for words, her healer's mind refusing to process what she'd just seen.

Standing from his seat, Dumbledore called out to her, "Since you are in fact perfectly healthy please come back down."

"Alright." To everyone's horror she stepped off the rafter and was fell towards the floor. Dumbledore whipped out his wand, but wasn't fast enough to get a spell off before she touched down. To everyone's surprise she barely made a noise as she landed and was completely unharmed. Walking towards them Zerachiel smiled. She came to a stop at the foot of Harry's bed and then shifted from one foot to another nervous under the many eyes on her.

"And what is your name?" asked Dumbledore. His wand was still out, but his eyes were twinkling.

Ducking her head slightly in a small bow, Zerachiel said, "My name is Zerachiel, but you can call me Zera if you wish."

"And how do you fit into everything?"

"Um," She glanced around the room at the different people. "Could I possibly tell you at a later date? Nothing I say is going to make much sense if you don't have the background information from those two first." She paused and a thoughtful look came over her face. "I don't actually know their names."

Dumbledore nodded, but he kept his wand out. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Oh, um," Zerachiel blinked as if she hadn't thought about it. After a moment of thought her lit up. "I know!" She practically beamed her smile was so big. "I, Zerachiel, do swear upon the magic that gives me life to hurt no one standing in this room unless they have intent to harm me or another for no good reason for the next three standard Earth days." A sudden rush of air filled the room and a red glow surrounded Zerachiel as she spoke. "Is that good enough?" she asked once everything had settled down.

Dumbledore nodded again and sat down as he put his wand away. "That will do for now, but something more will be required in the future." He then turned his attention to Madame Pomfrey and Amos. "Would you mind letting me speak with these three alone for a time?"

Madame Pomfrey nodded and retreated towards her office, still in a bit of shock. Mr. Diggory however refused to move. "Albus," said Amos, "Cedric is my son and I am not going anywhere."

"Please Amos," began Dumbledore with a sigh only to be cut off.

"Oh, he can stay if he wants," said Zerachiel as she sat down on the foot of Harry's bed. "So which one of you is Cedric?"

"I am." As he spoke he raised his hand.

Zerachiel smiled, "You're nice Cedric. You father is probably nice too." Turning to face Harry she asked, "So what's your name?"

"Um, Harry. Harry Potter."

"That's a nice name." Zerachiel smiled at him. Out of the blue she added, "You've got some crazy hair there. I bet it never does what you want it too."

Caught off guard, Harry just mumbled something incomprehensible.

Returning to the matter at hand Dumbledore agreed to let Mr. Diggory stay. "Now please explain what happened when you reached the Triwizard Cup."

"Well," began Harry as the others settled into their seats, "We decided to take it together, but the Cup was a portkey."


End file.
